Sol Bamba has been one of Leeds United’s best players in recent games, and he will once again be crucial on Saturday.

The Whites will head into the Championship clash against Watford at Elland Road on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion away from home.

The loss saw Leeds’s three-game winning run come to an end, and Neil Redfearn’s side will be determined to bounce back in style.

Winning against promotion-chasing Watford even at home will be far from easy, but if Bamba can continue his recent run of form, then the West Yorkshire outfit will certainly have a good chance.

As the Opta Stats table below shows, Bamba has been crucial in Leeds’s recent upturn in form and is probably the best signing the former Premier League outfit have made this season.

Total Clearances

Interceptions

Total Tackles

Tackles Won

Touches

Challenges Won

Error Leading To Goal

Error Leading To Shot

Appearances

Mins Played

Sol Bamba

52

26

16

12

251

49

0

1

6

540

Signed from Palermo in the January transfer window on loan for the remainder of the campaign, Bamba has made 52 clearances, 26 interceptions and won 12 of the 16 tackles in six Championship appearances.

The 30-year-old Ivory Coast international centre-back will have his work cut out, though, as he will face an in-form Troy Deeney - a duel which could eventually decide the outcome of the encounter.

The 26-year-old Watford captain has been in good form this season and will be a major threat to the Leeds defence on Saturday.

Subhankar Mondal

A football journalist based in Wakefield, Subhankar Mondal has previously worked for Goal.com International and Skysports.com, and has had his sports articles published in The Guardian and The Observer. He has also been on the BBC in the past and his name once found its way to the pages of the World Soccer magazine. He was recently cited in a major Louis van Gaal biography.